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Body of Lies
CIA agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) does the dangerous, unglamorous groundwork in the war on terror, chasing down insurgents first in Iraq and then in Amman. While he's often in perilous situations, it seems his biggest problem is the moronic bureaucrats in Washington who run roughshod over his delicate intelligence work, particularly Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), who spends nearly the entire movie talking and arguing with Ferris via cell phone. Ferris and Hoffman finally collaborate on a big plan – that's perhaps the movie's one good idea – to draw out an egotistical but elusive terrorist by turning an innocent Jordanian into what appears to be al Qaeda's latest hotshot. Ultimately, however, all the car bombs and spy satellites never amount to anything compelling, and Crowe and DiCaprio seem like thespian functionaries in an overly long procedural cop show. Add it to the growing heap of Hollywood's latest genre: Dull Iraq Movie. D+
Kinsey Scale: 1 (The movie's A-list leads have each played gay characters in the past – DiCaprio as poet Arthur Rimbaud in "Total Eclipse," and Crowe as an Aussie football player in search of a boyfriend in "The Sum of Us.")
City of Ember
Two hundred years after a catastrophe struck the earth, the only remaining humans live deep in the underground city of Ember, where a rapidly decaying infrastructure threatens to bring on a new apocalypse. Teenager Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) is determined to find a way to prevent the impending doom, and when his friend Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) discovers a box suggesting that a world exists outside the city, the two join forces to find it. The immense charm of Treadaway and Ronan, a mutant rat the size of a hippo, and a smirking Bill Murray's dryly funny turn as Ember's corrupt mayor are among the highlights of this offbeat, but heavy-handed children's fantasy. This family movie otherwise disappoints with thinly drawn supporting characters, meager special effects, and a predictable story. C
Kinsey Scale: 1 (Murray and co-star Martin Landau appeared in "Ed Wood," and Murray also had a role in "Wild Things." Co-star Toby Jones played Truman Capote in "Infamous," while Mary Kay Place had parts in "Tales of the City," "Further Tales of the City," and "Latter Days.")
Rocknrolla
Old-time gangster Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) controls who gets a piece of London's booming real estate market. Low-level con men One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba) want in; so does Russian billionaire Uri (Karel Roden). Sly, sexy accountant Stella (Thandie Newton) is working her own angle, and so is Lenny's vengeance-seeking, punk rocker stepson Johnny (Toby Kebbel). With this many players and more, it is little wonder that Guy Ritchie's frantic, violent, and very funny black comic thriller barely makes sense. But then, he clearly values high style, rapier (and sometimes vulgar) wit, and boisterous mayhem, all set to a pulsing soundtrack, over coherency. The formula works: The director and his cast are brilliant in a film that is never less than spectacularly entertaining. A
Kinsey Scale: 2 (Stella is in a marriage of convenience with a gay man. One running joke concerns One Two's reaction when a friend comes out to him. Wilkinson has multiple queer credits with roles in "Priest," "Wilde," "Stage Beauty," and "Normal." Newton appeared in "Interview with the Vampire." Among the co-stars, Jeremy Piven appeared in an episode of "Will & Grace" and was a regular on "Ellen," and Jimi Mistry played a gay man in "Touch of Pink." Director Ritchie is married to Madonna.)
ALSO IN THEATERS
Blindness
In an unnamed country, a mysterious epidemic blinds its victims, and the government reacts by quarantining the infected in isolated barracks. A self-appointed "king" (Gael Garcia Bernal) soon reduces Ward Three to anarchy, while an eye doctor (Mark Ruffalo) and his sighted wife (Julianne Moore) struggle to preserve civilization in Ward One. A large ensemble cast is terrific in this visually stunning drama that is absolutely chilling in its depiction of survival of the fittest in an arena where all social norms have broken down. On a more intimate level, the film also limns a moving portrait of the doctor and his wife as they fight for the strangers they soon come to regard as family, and grapple with the evolving roles in their increasingly charged relationship. B+
Burn After Reading
Middle-aged gym employee Linda (Frances McDormand) laments about getting the money together to pay for plastic surgery. When a janitor finds a computer disc with top-secret intelligence information on it, Linda and her dim co-worker Chad (Brad Pitt) decide to blackmail ex-CIA man Osborne Cox (John Malkovich). He's got problems of his own, having been kicked out of the house by his uptight wife Katie (Tilda Swinton), who's having an affair with Treasury agent Harry (George Clooney), who's having a clandestine Internet romance with…Linda. Despite all the farcical set-ups and complications, "Burn After Reading" doesn't deliver the laughs. The Coen brothers don't seem to be sure if they're making a comedy or a spy movie, and they end up with neither. C-
Eagle Eye
A stranger's voice on the phone warns slacker Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) that the FBI is after him, just as agents burst through his door. The same voice threatens to kill single-mom Rachel Holloman's (Michelle Monaghan) son unless she does what she is told. The two are soon on the run together, the voice forcing them ever deeper into a violent conspiracy. This paranoid thriller begins with an arresting premise: that the government's surveillance equipment, meant to monitor for terrorists, could be turned against ordinary American citizens. Unfortunately, the movie never pauses long enough from the frantic stew of car chases, explosions, and lavish special effects to fully explore those implications, morphing instead into a flabby, barely suspenseful, and depressingly routine action adventure. C
Flash of Genius
Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) invented the intermittent windshield wiper, only to see Ford steal his idea and take the credit for it. As a result, Kearns did what anyone who eventually gets a feel-good movie made about his life would do: he fought back and won. But knowing the ending of this true story doesn't spoil this film – boredom and historical inevitability do that. Is Kearns a man of principle – he turns down a $30 million settlement in favor of a trial – or simply a nutty obsessive? The movie doesn't really seem to know. Meanwhile, the fact that it's a part of documented history insures that the final courtroom showdown is stripped of any suspense. And finally, it's about the guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper, which frankly isn't the most exciting topic to build a big Hollywood movie around. The real Kearns may have had a flash of genius, but the movie is as weak as a 25-watt bulb. C-
Ghost Town
After undergoing a botched medical procedure, truculent dentist Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) begins to see dead people, all beseeching him for help. Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), a particularly persistent ghost, urges Bertram to come between his archaeologist widow Gwen (Tea Leoni) and her new fiance, do-gooder lawyer Richard (Billy Campbell), but becomes jealous when feelings start to develop between Bertram and Gwen. This amiable romantic comedy fantasy revolves around two incredible premises: that misanthropic Bertram is capable of opening his heart, and that a woman normally attracted to suave charmers would suddenly fall for an antisocial lout. Despite those unbelievable elements, this is a comic gem with witty dialogue, sparkling performances, a few genuinely moving moments, and fantastic chemistry between Gervais and Kinnear. B
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Bad-boy Brit journalist Sidney Young (Simon Pegg) expects big things from his new job at a high-flying New York magazine. Instead, his boorish behavior and refusal to suck up to celebrities put him on thin ice with everyone but comely coworker Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst). Sidney's future looks dim, until he falls for starlet Sophie Maes (Megan Fox) and suddenly wants to play the game. The laughs are scattershot in this sometimes very funny, sometimes uncomfortable blend of romantic comedy, cruelty, and overly insular media satire. Pegg is brilliant, but he portrays Sidney as such a complete jackass that it is impossible to care about what happens to him. The character does eventually grow more likable, but only after he has been thoroughly humiliated. B-
Lakeview Terrace
For Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington), their new hillside home in an L.A. suburb is paradise – that is, until Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), the stern cop next door, begins a campaign of intimidation against the mixed-race couple that grows ever more threatening. This crime drama examines both the larger issues of racism and abuse of power, as well as the more intimate family challenges facing both the Mattsons and Turner. The Mattsons may be the victims, but the characters are also smug and underwritten. The angry, psychotic Turner emerges as the more sympathetic figure and the best reason to see the film, as Jackson delivers an explosive performance that captures both the bad and the good sides of this very troubled man. B-
Miracle at St. Anna
Just before Christmas in 1983, elderly postal worker Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) shoots another old man in the chest; when the police search his apartment, they find the head of a priceless Italian statue, thought to be lost for decades. The explanation of both mysteries goes all the way back to the 1940s, when Hector fought in Italy with the all-black Buffalo Soldiers during World War II. While director Spike Lee often does the right thing in this battlefield epic – from directing horrifying scenes of wartime violence to eliciting powerful performances from his excellent cast – his good intentions are dragged down by James McBride's overlong and on-the-nose screenplay. (The movie takes 160 minutes to tell a story that could be covered in 90.) For its good intentions, "Miracle" is often an unholy bore. C-
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
New Jersey high school student Nick (Michael Cera) makes mix CDs for his girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dziena) long after she's dumped him. He doesn't know that Tris' sometime-friend Norah (Kat Dennings), who's got ex-boyfriend troubles of her own, rescues the CDs from the trash for Nick's perfect musical taste. And when Nick and Norah are accidentally thrown into each other's lives on a typical teen excursion into New York City to see a band, they discover budding romance amidst chaotic surroundings, unreliable drunken friends, and emotional blackmail from exes. Call it "Sixteen Candles 2008," as the premise of "one wacky night that changes everything" used by countless high school comedies gets a scruffy update. Meanwhile, the infusion of sweet, low-key charm and the underplayed comic talents of Cera and Dennings save it from being just another teen movie and make it cause for minor celebration. B
Nights in Rodanthe
Wife and mom Adrienne (Diane Lane) can't decide whether or not to take back her estranged, philandering husband (Christopher Meloni). Troubled doctor Paul (Richard Gere) wants to face up to his mistakes and mend his broken relationship with his son (James Franco). When Adrienne and Paul meet – she's running an inn for her vacationing friend, he's the only guest – they brood, stare at the sea, and bond. And because they're played by Diane Lane and Richard Gere, they have Earth-shattering sex and heal each other's emotional wounds. Even if you're a sucker for chick flicks and/or tearjerkers, "Nights in Rodanthe" is so over-the-top – they fall into each other's arms as a hurricane hits! – that you'll find it difficult to stifle the giggles. Lane delivers another great performance, but she's too good for this material. C
Righteous Kill
Turk (Robert De Niro) and Rooster (Al Pacino) are longtime partners on the NYPD who wind up investigating a rash of serial killings. All of the victims are rapists, pimps, killers, gay-bashers, and other lowlifes, so the cops on the case begin to suspect that one of their own is the killer. Could it be either of our elderly stars? Or perhaps the (relatively) young guns played by Donnie Wahlberg or John Leguizamo? The cast is A-list, but they're all phoning it in with a script that barely deserves them. But even wasting their time with weak material, De Niro and Pacino are still loads of fun, and their banter gives occasional life to the movie. For the most part, though, it's 103 minutes best watched on cable on a boring Sunday afternoon. C
